Italy: Alessandro Bastoni Feels He Owes It to All Italians

His goal broke the deadlock and kicked off Italy’s impressive victory over Turkey. It was a goal celebrated in grand style by Alessandro Bastoni—a sort of cathartic goal after a long period of struggle.

The red card in Zenica, against Bosnia and Herzegovina, still weighs heavily on the Italian defender. Months later, here is his “proud response.” In fact, Alessandro Bastoni was reborn in Bursa, just like the entire national team.

“It’s inevitable to think about that night; I’ll be in debt to the Italian fans for at least the next four years—let’s hope we can make up for this. Whenever I’ve faced difficulties, I’ve always chosen to come out of them with my head held high and take responsibility for my actions. I know my worth; we’re trying to bring Italy back to where it belongs. We’ve hit rock bottom in recent years, but we’re a young group and we’re eager to bounce back,” he said in an interview with Rai 1 after the match against Turkey.

Then his advice for the future (France is up next on Friday): “Let’s ask for a bit of balance and patience. If anyone is going to be under fire, it’s better that it’s us—we have more experience and a bit more resilience. It’s not easy to deal with social media and outside chatter. We shouldn’t get carried away because we’ve had our ups and downs in recent years as well. We need to stay grounded but also be aware of who we are. And every now and then, it’s good to be happy.”